Chris Packham has revealed he has been given a bodyguard while filming BBC’s Winterwatch because of “specific threats” against him.
The TV star and naturalist – who was previously the victim of an arson attack outside his home – said there have been threats from people threatening to “harm” him and his family and that it has been reported to police. Security has also been ramped up at work.
“A couple of times recently, before the Watches, we’ve had specific threats for me,” the Mirror quoted the Springwatch star as saying. “So we’ve had a person who’s there and stays at the hotel, and then goes with me to the place.”
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Chris went on: “We have had several threats recently that are not death threats but they’re saying, ‘We’re going to harm you’.” He said the threats came from emails and that it has been reported. “So we’ve had two in the last month, saying, ‘I’m going to harm you and harm your family’,” he said.
(Image: BBC/Jo Charlesworth)
The article included a picture of a note threatening the star. It warned Chris that “we know where you live” and that “we will get you some way or another”.
The 62-year-old animal lover has been targeted in the past over his work speaking out for wildlife. In 2021, someone set a Land Rover on fire outside the gate of his house in the New Forest. Speaking on Crimewatch Live in 2022, the TV star said he had been in bed when he heard an “enormous explosion” outside.
(Image: Collect Unknown)
“The car had clearly exploded,” he said. “The bang was tremendous and the dogs flew off of the bed and started yelping and barking straight away.”
Chris said the vehicle was totally burned out in the blaze, which he has now said he believes was to do with him being against fox-hunting. “It got so hot that the engine lock had melted,” he explained. “So it was quite an explosion.”
(Image: BBC/Jo Charlesworth)
On another occasion, dead crows were hung from strings outside Chris’s home after he and the group Wild Justice challenged a licence that allowed the shooting of several types of birds.
Daily Star has reached out to a representative for Chris and the BBC for comment.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
